Drown
by lovesickswallow
Summary: Nora Rhodes was the sort of girl to breeze through life like a hurricane and never bother to look back at the damage she left behind. At least, that's what Jughead Jones had always thought. But she was not a hurricane. She was a fucking tsunami, and Jughead realised he was drowning before he even had a chance to take a breath.
1. Chapter 1

_**All characters in this story are either 16 or 17 years old. I know they're younger in the show, but I felt more comfortable writing for them being a little older. Hope you enjoy!**_

* * *

Nora Rhodes was the sort of girl to breeze through life like a hurricane and never bother to look back at the damage she left behind. She could have anything she wanted with a click of her manicured fingers, and she _knew_ it. At least, that was what Jughead Jones thought to himself as she walked into his fourth period English class. She was ten minutes late.

She walked in with a smile on her face, the same smug look she always wore. Her eyes scanned over the room quickly and, for the briefest of moments, met Jughead's glare. His scowl deepened, but she wouldn't have noticed. She had already moved past him, sharing a brief look with the teacher before she was moving to take her seat in the classroom. _No punishment,_ Jughead thought. _Of course._

This was nothing new, or out of the ordinary. Nora Rhodes had been given treatment like this her whole life, or at least for as long as Jughead could remember. They had lived in the same town, shared the same classes, eaten at the same places, for all their lives. Jughead doubted if the blonde girl even knew his name.

Nora's allocated seat was beside Jughead, though she usually sat three rows further back. Today, however, the spot next to Jughead was the only one still free. Normally, no one would dare to take Nora's seat in fear of ending up on Cheryl's hit list. After being absent from school for three days though, it was assumed that Nora would not be in class and the seat had been filled.

Nora often had entire weeks off from school, disappearing from her usual hang out spots and seemingly vanishing off the face of the planet. People used to wonder where she went and gossiped over possible reasons. No one spoke of it anymore, though. It was no longer a mystery. This was just how it was. Jughead still wondered, though didn't care enough to actively investigate. More so just a passing thought, flashing through his mind whenever he happened to see the girl. Fleeting.

He was snapped from his thoughts by the screeching of metal on the floor as the chair next to him was pulled out. Nora lowered herself into the seat beside Jughead. He noticed that she did this slowly, almost as though she was avoiding pain that she associated with quick movements. This caught Jughead's attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Nora. He noticed that her hands shook slightly as she pulled out a pencil, and that her nails were not manicured like he had assumed. Instead, her nails were bitten and uneven, to a point that Jughead thought must have been painful. Then he noticed the small, dark bruises that littered her arms. Jughead turned his head a little more fully in her direction, wanting to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him.

Nora saw him turn and followed his gaze down to her arms. Immediately, she grabbed the sleeve of her sweater and pulled it down to her wrist, hiding the purple flesh from Jughead's stare. When his eyes darted up, he met her eyes, and Jughead thought this was the first time she had ever really _looked_ at him. Then, he realised that maybe this was the first time he had ever really looked at her, either.

He saw her chapped lips, covered but not hidden by a layer of dark lipstick. He saw her red eyes, looking at him through one too many layers of mascara. He noticed the piercing in her nose and wondered when she had gotten it done. He saw her dark roots peeking through the blonde of her hair. He saw her imperfections, and realised that perhaps she was not the girl he had thought her to be.

After their first and only interaction in English class, Jughead didn't really see Nora again before Summer began. Though he had been mildly curious, the fascination had faded over the school break and any thought of Nora faded along with it.

With the death of Jason Blossom, Riverdale's _It_ boy, Jughead had bigger mysteries to solve. Or, that's what he had thought. But when the first day of school rolled back around, Nora rolled in not like a hurricane, but a tsunami.

Of course the first thing on everyone's mind was Jason's death. But under the roar of that gossip, there was something else. A whisper of Nora.

 _"_ _Have you seen Nora? She looks… different."_

 _"_ _I heard her family went bankrupt."_

 _"_ _I heard she spent the summer in Europe."_

 _"_ _I heard her parents split up."_

Jughead heard a few theories circulating the girl throughout the day, but he figured none of them were really true. Maybe _all_ of them were true. Jughead really couldn't be sure, and that frustrated him.

He got a proper look at her when she walked into his chemistry class that afternoon. Her once long, blonde locks had been chopped to shoulder length and dyed back to her natural brown colour. She had ditched the sweaters and jeans, and now wore a dark dress with fishnet stockings underneath. Jughead wondered if there was anything in the dress code about fishnet stockings, and made a note to look it up later. She was no longer smiling when she walked into the room, but instead her eyes were glassed over and her lips were downturned just slightly.

Jughead took in her appearance and found himself wondering how this could be the same upbeat, smug woman from a few months ago. He wondered what had happened over the summer, and how so much mystery could cloud Riverdale so suddenly. And when Nora walked into the class and sat down beside him, Jughead wondered what the strange feeling was in the pit of his stomach. He told himself it had nothing to do with the girl sat beside him, and didn't let himself dwell on it a second longer.

Nora Rhodes rolled in to his life like a tsunami, and Jughead Jones found himself drowning before he even had a chance to take a breath.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Well hi there! I haven't written anything in a heck of a long time, but Riverdale has got me totally obsessed and I need an outlet to deal with my frustration for Jughead (And Cole oml).**_

 _ **There might be some sneaky smut in later chapters... Would you guys want that? Or prefer to keep it PG13? Let me know! And please leave me a review if you're into this story, I need your validation in order to continue publishing lol (no jk)**_

 _ **If you don't want to leave a review, just add it to your favourites / follows so I know you're keen for more!**_

 _ **Also, this won't be following the storylines in the tv series, so please don't bite my head off if it differs a little from being canon.**_

 _ **Also also, let me know if you spot any grammatical or spelling errors. I'm super crazy about them, but there always seems to be one that I miss.**_

 _ **Xxx**_


	2. Chapter 2

Nora pushed her food around aimlessly on her plate as she sat with her friends at lunch. Cheryl was telling them a story about Jason, something from when they were 7 or maybe 8 years old, and Nora watched as the girls around them nodded solemnly as Cheryl spoke.

Though Nora's heart ached for her friend, she also couldn't help but feel detached from them all. She felt as though she was outside of her body, looking down on the interaction from above. She felt like an outsider.

She pushed the thought away and tried to act normal, figured if she pretended for long enough then perhaps it would start to feel real. Figured if she tried her best to smile and nod and laugh at all the right times, maybe her life would start to make sense again.

A week went by before Nora realised that it wasn't working. In fact, she felt herself falling further away from her old self with every day that passed. She couldn't bring herself to join in the conversations with her friends, or present herself a certain way to the people around her. She couldn't bring herself to _care_.

Nora had this revelation one afternoon, as she sat in Pop's with Cheryl. She sipped absentmindedly on a milkshake and listened to Cheryl talk about the new girl in school. Her name was Veronica or something, and Cheryl did not like her very much. Then again, Cheryl didn't like most people.

Nora let her gaze drift out the window as she stirred the straw of her milkshake, and she watched the cars driving by in the rain. She watched the blur of the lights through the raindrops on the window, watched as the same raindrops slowly descended down the glass. Her attention was brought backed to Cheryl when the red headed girl snapped her fingers in front of Nora's face.

"What's up with you lately?" Cheryl asked, not giving the other girl a moment to answer before she continued speaking. "You've been a real downer lately. Seriously."

Nora had to stop herself from reminding Cheryl that she had spent the past week talking about nothing but her _dead brother_. Cheryl sighed dramatically.

"Really, why don't you just go hang out with that kid _Jughead_. You're as bad as he is right now. So doom and gloom." Cheryl shook her head, taking a second to look at Nora's milkshake before she averted her attention to her nails. Nora wondered how long it had been since Cheryl had last eaten, and figured it had been _too_ long. It had always been too long.

 _Jughead_. His name sounded offensive when Cheryl had spat it out, the disdain she had for the boy clear in her voice. Nora didn't really know anything about him. He'd always just sort of been around. Not exactly the kind of kid that drew attention to himself. He wasn't a complete loner though, as far as Nora knew. She had always seen him hanging around Archie Andrews, although now that she thought about it Nora couldn't remember seeing them together recently. Then again, Nora hadn't really been very interested in much of anything recently, let alone the social affairs of her peers.

Cheryl had begun talking again, about Jason of course. Nora listened to her speak for a minute, listened to the drone of Cheryl's voice in her ears, before suddenly deciding that she'd had enough. She slammed her hands down onto the table and Cheryl stopped speaking abruptly, taken aback by the action.

"You know what, Cheryl?" Nora heard the words coming out of her mouth, although she wasn't sure who was saying them. "I can't do this anymore."

" _What?_ " Cheryl's eyes were wide, shocked as though no one had ever spoken to her like this before.

"I'm sorry. I just-," The words kept coming out of Nora's mouth. She wondered where this train of thought was leading, because she really wasn't sure. "I can't keep pretending that I _care._ I'm done." _Oh_. Nora hadn't been planning on ending her friendship with Cheryl today, but she didn't feel particularly sad that it _had_ happened. She didn't feel much of anything, if she was being honest with herself.

Cheryl said something, or at least Nora saw her mouth moving. She figured that Cheryl was speaking, but she couldn't really hear what she was saying. It was like white noise. The next moment Cheryl was pulling herself out of the booth and storming out of Pop's.

And just like that, Nora Rhodes had severed her friendship with Cheryl Blossom.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there in silence, thinking about nothing, before the ringing of the bell above the door broke Nora out of her daze. She looked up and saw Jughead Jones walking into Pop's, beanie on his head and laptop under his arm. He sunk into a booth at the back of the diner and was immediately engrossed in his computer. Nora watched him for a long moment before deciding that maybe she _would_ take Cheryl's advice.

* * *

Jughead was trying to put his thoughts in order, trying to articulate what he was thinking. He had never realised how difficult it was to write a novel, especially non-fiction. He often found that he would write out the events of the day only to read through and realise none of it made sense. He wondered if that was because he was a poor writer, or because his _life_ didn't make a lot of sense. He wasn't sure which was the better alternative.

He was still trying to order his thoughts when Jughead saw a hand reach onto his plate from in his peripheral vision. He watched as fingers took a chip from his food, eyes following as the fry was lifted into the air and then into the mouth of Nora Rhodes. She was sitting opposite him, and Jughead startled at the sight of her. He hadn't thought anyone else would be here this late, and he certainly hadn't noticed her when he had walked in. _Had she been here the entire time?_

"I've been here since 5." Jughead was even more startled when she spoke, her words directed at _him_. For all the years that he had known her, Nora Rhodes had never spoken to him before. It took a moment for Jughead to realise that she had answered a question he hadn't meant to ask, and he immediately stopped his train of thought before his mouth decided to betray him again.

When he didn't speak, Nora took it upon herself to fill the silence. "I'm Nora… by the way."

"We've known each other since we were 5." Jughead frowned. Had she really just introduced herself? He panicked for a moment, and wondered if Nora realised who he was. Had she ever even noticed him before? Maybe she thought he was new in town. He wasn't sure how he would ever get through that conversation, and felt a wave of relief wash over him when Nora assured him that she did, in fact, know who he was.

"Sorry… It's just that we've never really spoken before. I thought it would be polite." She shrugged, and Jughead looked on in horror as she took _another_ fry from him.

"It was weird." He told her bluntly, moving his plate of food a little closer to him protectively.

"But it worked, didn't it? I mean, we're talking now." Jughead was feeling a little flustered, not sure what she wanted or why she was sitting in _his_ booth, eating _his_ fries. Flustered was a feeling Jughead was unfamiliar with, and he was very uncomfortable with it.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Jughead asked her suspiciously. Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion and the corners of her mouth jutted down a little more than usual. Jughead made a conscious effort not to dwell on her lips.

"Am I not allowed to be here?" Nora asked defensively, leaning back in the booth and crossing her arms defiantly.

"Sure… It's just unusual for anyone else to be here this late." Jughead rubbed his neck awkwardly, watching as her eyes widened. Then she leaned forward again, reaching across the table and grabbing his laptop.

Jughead opened his mouth in protest but before he had the chance to speak, Nora had turned his computer around to face her and Jughead felt like his heart was pounding out of his chest. He was still open to the word document containing his novel, and it was nowhere _near_ ready for anyone to see.

"Is this time right?" She asked, her voice louder than it needed to be for an empty diner at 12:30am. Jughead nodded, grabbing his laptop back and pulling it away from her eyes as quickly as possible. He hoped she had been too concerned with the time to notice his writing.

"You've been here since 5pm?" Jughead asked incredulously. Nora seemed confused, like she couldn't possibly fathom that it was past midnight.

"How…" She trailed off, lost in her own thoughts.

"I guess your parents will be worried." Jughead muttered, before another thought occurred to him. "Where's your phone, anyway?" Why did she need to look on his computer when she could have just used her phone to check the time?!

"I don't have one. It… broke. Over summer." Jughead raised an eyebrow.

"And you haven't bothered to buy a new one?" Nora smiled and shrugged her shoulders, although she looked anything but happy.

"It's sort of nice not having one. Being a little disconnected from the rest of the world." Jughead wasn't really sure what she was talking about, but he realised after a moment that he was nodding in understanding with her. He stopped immediately.

They sat in silence then, and Jughead wondered if Nora would mind him going back to his laptop. He had planned to get a lot of work done tonight, and her presence had really thrown him. His leg started jumping up and down under the table as he grew uncomfortable with the silence, and he was ready to ask her some insignificant question about their chemistry assignment when her voice finally rang out.

"I don't want to go home." She said it in a whisper, filled with so much sadness that Jughead almost wished she had just kept quiet. _Almost_.

"You can stay with me." Jughead almost didn't realise he had spoken, and then immediately wished he could suck the words back in to his mouth. What was he talking about?! He lived in a _shed_. Certainly not the sort of place you took a girl that was seeking refuge. Certainly not where you took _Nora Rhodes_.

But the words were already out, and she was looking at him with surprised eyes and a smile on her face. Not like the way she had smiled earlier, or the way she had smiled as she floated through the hallways at school. A _genuine_ smile, wide and bright. The kind of smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes and made Jughead's chest feel a little heavier.

"Really?" She asked, her voice full of hope. Hope that Jughead couldn't crush, he thought to himself as he nodded his head.

"Wait. I mean…" He blurted out quickly, because he desperately needed to explain himself before she got ahead of herself. "I don't live at home. I'm not exactly… I don't…" He thought about how to phrase it. He wasn't _homeless_ , but he also didn't have a home. What did that make him?

"Anything is better than home right now." Nora told him, her voice full of understanding that she couldn't possibly possess. How could she _possibly_ understand what Jughead was trying to say? But somehow, it seemed that she just _knew_.

Jughead didn't understand how this had come to be. He had planned to sit in his booth at Pop's for an hour or two, order far too many burgers for one person to consume, and then collapse into his makeshift bed at the Drive-In sometime after the sun began to rise. It was a Friday night, after all, and Jughead had _plans_.

He wasn't the sort of person to strike up a conversation with a stranger, at a diner at 12.30am. He certainly wasn't the sort of person to invite a stranger, someone he did not know _at all_ , back to his place at 12.30am. His place - his _shed_. How could he offer this girl an escape from her family, when he was desperately trying to escape from his? This was the blind leading the blind.

But despite all possible reason, Jughead left Pop's diner at 1am with Nora Rhodes, and together they headed to the Drive-In.

* * *

 _ **a/n**_

 ** _Thank you for your enthusiasm for the first chapter! I certainly wasn't expecting it to get as much attention as it did. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, what you think of Nora so far, and what you would like to see between Nora and Jughead in future chapters._**

 ** _I'll be back with another chapter soon. xx_**


	3. Chapter 3

"I told you it's…" Jughead wanted to run. He wanted to turn around – away from his home and from Nora Rhodes and from the situation that he had put himself in – and _run_. Instead, he readjusted the beanie that sat on his head and glanced at Nora out of the corner of his eye.

She didn't say anything, didn't try to tell him not to worry or that it was everything she had hoped for. Instead, she looked around the booth with curious eyes, taking everything in, before she stepped inside for a closer look. She walked over to the projector in the middle of the room, her fingers running across the rim of the large wheel that was used to run the film. She kept walking further inside, briefly stopping to look at the reels of film stacked in high piles on a table in the corner.

Then she ventured to the other side of the room, where Jughead had been living. She looked at the posters that he had stuck to the walls (both from horror films dating back to the 50's), and the papers sprawled out on his desk. Assignments and homework from school. She saw his chemistry assignment stapled together amongst the mess, and made a mental note to finish her assignment soon, too.

She looked down at his mattress, which was pressed against the wall between his desk and a film cabinet. It was dipped in the middle and looked entirely uncomfortable, propped up off the floor by 2 crates pushed together into a makeshift bed frame. Despite its shabby appearance, Nora sat down on the end of it anyway. She was surprised to feel that the mattress wasn't as hard as she had expected.

She finally looked up at Jughead and saw him still hovering in the doorway. He was staring off into space, and Nora wondered if he was just trying to maintain his façade or if he really _was_ just bored. Though he'd never tell her, Jughead was trying his damnedest not too look as awkward as he felt in that moment. He had never even told anyone about his living situation, let alone allowed them to inspect every _fine detail_ of the projection booth he called 'home'.

Nora looked at him until Jughead's eyes darted down to meet hers. When they finally did, she smiled lightly and tapped the empty space beside her on the mattress. Jughead's eyes followed her motion, but he hesitated in the doorway a moment longer before deciding to walk inside and close the door behind him. Though it was already pitch black outside, it somehow felt darker in the projection booth with the door closed, shutting them off from the outside world. Instead of sitting beside her on the bed, Jughead strode across the small room and leant against the edge of his desk.

"So," Nora dragged the word out, leaning back on her hands and elongating her neck as she looked up to the ceiling. Jughead involuntarily gulped. "How did you find this place, anyway?"

"If I'm not at school or the diner, I'm here working anyway, so-,"

"Wait, you _work_ here?" Nora cut him off, head snapping back up to look at him. Jughead shrugged, nodding in affirmative. "So does that mean… you can operate the projector?" She grinned at him, baring the white of her teeth. Her eyes seemed to shine a little, Jughead realised, with mischief.

"No. We can't. _No._ " Jughead denied Nora her request before she had even asked, and Nora couldn't help but be surprised at his perceptiveness.

"Oh, come on! Just _one movie?_ " Nora slumped her shoulders sadly, looking up at him through her eyelashes. Jughead had to remind himself that she was just a girl, and he absolutely could not risk his job _and_ his cover being blown by letting her watch a movie. Even if it _did_ mean that she would keep looking at him like that.

"I can't. If someone saw, then they'd know I was here this late. They'd find out, and then I'd be homeless." Jughead crossed his arms and tried his best not to jump when Nora sprung up from the mattress and was suddenly standing in front of him. She didn't even hesitate before grabbing his hands, uncrossing his arms and lacing his fingers through hers.

"No one would ever know." She whispered in a sing-song voice, their intertwined hands swinging back and forth lightly as she rocked on the heels of her feet. Jughead realised in that moment that Nora Rhodes was no ordinary teenage girl. She was a _succubus_ , sent to Earth to have him fired from his job and kicked out onto the streets. Sent to ruin his life.

"Do you _want_ me to be homeless?" Jughead stressed. He tried to pull his hands out of hers, but Nora tightened her grip. He didn't try again.

Nora looked at him for a long moment, studied the exasperated look on his face, before she finally relented. Jughead pretended he didn't miss the warmth when she let go of his hands and sat back down on the mattress.

This time though, Jughead sat down beside her. Nora smiled lightly when she felt the mattress dip beside her to accommodate his weight, and Jughead noted that this was another genuine smile. He had counted two, so far, this evening. That was a startling few.

They sat in silence for a while after that. Jughead began to feel his eyes droop with the haze of sleep, and wondered absently what time it was. He hoped that she was tired too, and would fall asleep soon. Then he could figure out where he was going to sleep and finally put his mind to rest. He almost jumped when Nora spoke again, her voice a little raspy but still very much awake.

"What are you always writing on your laptop?" As she asked the question, she scooted back on the mattress until her back hit the wall. Jughead followed suit, allowing himself to slump down slightly. He flinched when Nora copied his slouch, and in her adjusted position her arm was resting against his. _There it was,_ Jughead thought. _That warmth again._

"Is it a novel or something?" Jughead realised he hadn't answered her question when Nora spoke again. He was too busy ignoring the feeling of her skin against his. _What was wrong with him tonight?_ Getting swept away by a girl wasn't the sort of thing Jughead did. _Archie_ , sure. But not Jughead.

"Something like that." Jughead finally answered, letting a yawn out after he finished speaking.

"What's it about?" Nora asked.

"Us." Jughead blurted it before his brain had comprehended the word. He quickly kept talking to cover up his blunder. "Everything. This town. It's mostly about Jason Blossom though. His death, I mean." Jughead was far from eloquent when he was tired, it seemed.

"Ah. Is it a mystery then?" Nora didn't seem fazed by Jughead's rambling. Seemed to skirt over it entirely, in fact.

"Is Jason Blossom's death a mystery?" Jughead countered. "As far as Riverdale knows, Jason Blossom drowned. Nothing mysterious about that."

"Except that they never found his body."

There was a long silence, and Nora thought Jughead may have fallen asleep beside her.

"Yeah, it's a mystery." Silence. And then, "Just like you." Nora turned her head towards Jughead, and she took a moment to stare at the features of his face. She noticed the freckles that littered his face and neck, and briefly wondered if they covered his entire body.

"I'm not a mystery." She told him, shaking her head lightly at the thought. "The clues have been there all along. It's just that, I suppose, no one bothered to look before now. They only look once you _make_ them, you know."

Jughead could feel her stare burning into the side of his head and he turned to meet her gaze. Up close, the sadness in her eyes was much more noticeable.

"Hm. Typical small town tragedy then, is it? Everyone looks away and pretends they don't notice, until one day you decide to chop off all your hair and show the world how much you hate it?" Jughead sometimes didn't realise when he was being cruel, but if Nora _was_ upset by his words, she didn't let it show.

"Or until they find your body washed up on the shore of the river." Nora shot back at him.

"Or _not_ find your body." Jughead countered. Nora didn't respond, and they sat in silence for a long moment.

"You seem pretty hung up on Jason's death." Jughead finally pointed out, breaking the silence that had settled over them.

"I guess it's just weird, a kid dying at our age." Nora shrugged her shoulders, letting out a deep sigh. She slumped a little further against the wall. "I mean; 17 years isn't enough. We have so much _living_ left to do still."

"If it makes you feel any better, I've heard drowning is one of the most peaceful ways to die." Jughead offered. He heard Nora scoff, and figured that it did not make her feel any better.

"I wouldn't like to drown." Nora told him softly. She paused for a long moment, then let her head drop down to the side and rest against Jughead's shoulder. He tried his best not to stiffen at the feeling. "I'd jump from the tallest building I could find. It would feel like you're flying."

Jughead gulped, partially because of the morbidity or her sentence and partially because the weight of her head on his shoulder was making his chest tighten.

"I wouldn't mind drowning, I think." Jughead finally told her. "Not until I'm old, though. Maybe when I'm 65 or 70."

"That's not _that_ old." Nora argued.

"I don't want my mind to go bad. It's the only thing I have." The words were coming out of Jughead's mouth so easily, and he was startled by how freely he was speaking to her. He wondered if it was because he trusted Nora, or because it was easier to say these things in the darkness of the night.

"Don't limit yourself to just that." Nora whispered. Jughead could hear how tired she was by the way her words were slurring together.

"I'm not the guy that gets the pretty girl or has loads of friends. All I have is my brain and my words." He told her adamantly. He wasn't saying it because he wanted validation, he was saying it because it was _true_. Growing up with Archie Andrews as his best friend, that fact was always painfully obvious.

Nora lifted her head off of his shoulder and Jughead thought that he had upset her. But then she was turning her body towards him and reaching up to place her hand gingerly against his cheek. He looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, and it took him longer than it should have to comprehend the feeling of her lips against his. But then he realised that her lips _were_ against his, and she was kissing him, and without quite realising it Jughead was kissing her back.

But then in the next second Nora pulled away and slumped back down beside him, and Jughead felt like he was drunk because his head wouldn't stop spinning.

"Don't think into that too much. I just figured it was quicker than arguing with you over your worth." Nora whispered as she rested her head back against his shoulder again.

Jughead wondered if he should be upset that his first kiss, as sad as that was to admit, was to shut him up. But somehow he couldn't bring himself to care, because his lips still tingled and he hadn't thought it possible for someone's lips to be so soft. But Nora's _were_ that soft. He thought that if all girls' lips felt like that, then maybe he could see the appeal of kissing.

"Are you tired?" Nora asked him quietly.

"No." Jughead answered, even though he was. He was so tired, but suddenly he felt wide awake.

"Me neither." Nora told him, but then she was pushing him down until his back was on the mattress and she had room to curl up next to him. His heart was beating so fast he feared it would break out of his chest, and he worried that Nora could hear it from where she lay beside him. If she could, she had the courtesy not to mention it.

"Goodnight Jughead." She whispered. Jughead wanted to tell her that there was not enough room on his single mattress for two people. He wanted to tell her that her legs were already intertwining with his and that it would be much better for him to sleep on the floor. He wanted to tell her that he was scared to touch her, because he didn't like the completely foreign way that she was making him feel.

Nora reached up and grabbed his beanie, pulling it off of his head and tossing it carelessly to the floor beneath them. And then she let her hand relax against his chest, and she scrunched up the material of his shirt between her fingers, and any words that Jughead had planned on saying dissolved on his tongue.

Against all of his better judgement, Jughead let her nuzzle into him and didn't try to stop her when she curled her smooth legs around his. Instead, he pulled the sheet over them as best as he could and tried to control the rapid beating in his chest. He closed his eyes, although he was sure he wouldn't sleep tonight. Or maybe, Jughead thought, he was already dreaming. It seemed far more logical than this – than _Nora Rhodes_ curled into him, sleeping soundly by his side.

"Goodnight Nora." Jughead breathed into the silence. Nora didn't hear the catch in his throat when he said her name, because she was already fast asleep.

* * *

 _ **a/n**_

 _ **Sorry for the delay in this chapter, I've been a little busy recently!**_

 ** _What did you guys think of this one? (did you like the kiss?)_**

 ** _Let me know what you wanna see in the future of this story, and I'll be back (hopefully sooner this time) with another chapter. :)_**


End file.
